Some of you probably remember Tulsa recruited Britton Abbott in the class of 2014. TU and Wyoming were the only two schools to offer Britton, and he made an official visit to Tulsa about two week before signing day. But he surprised everybody...instead of taking the scholarship and playing for the Hurricane, where several family members (Cliff, Bo and Blake) had played and coached...he decided to walk on at Oklahoma State.
I came across this article in the McAlester News...
The season opener carried significant weight for Oklahoma State redshirt junior Britton Abbott.
Not only was he making his first start for the Cowboys after years of learning behind Cowboy Backs like Jeremy Seaton, Blake Jarwin and Zac Veatch. He was making his first start of his college career against the same program his father and older brothers once played for.
Abbott, the youngest of four boys, stepped onto the field at Boone Pickens Stadium wearing OSU orange and black after growing up watching all of his family wear the blue and gold of the Tulsa Golden Hurricane.
“Deep down, I think it was a little more sweet,” Abbott said. “… I’ve got so many connections with coaches and players on that team, there was a lot of familiar faces when we played them.”
So how was it to become that the final member of the Abbott family brought an end to the family tradition, and instead landed in Oklahoma State as a walk-on out of Liberal, Kansas?
“I guess I wanted to do my own deal a little bit,” Abbott said. “My whole family had gone to there, but I wanted to play at Oklahoma State instead of Tulsa and make my own path.”
It wasn’t anything against his family.
As he plays his final two years of college football, the management and marketing major who was named to the 2016 All-Big 12 Academic First Team, Abbott cherishes every bit of his family. He’s played for his father and one brother while at high school, and now has a brother that is overseeing his success in Stillwater.
“I’ve had a good support system around me with my family, and have always believed in me,” Abbott said. “My dad was always saying, ‘Hey, you’re good enough to play, just go make it happen.’ They always believed in me the whole time.”
And it was one family member in particular that has given him the greatest support over the past six months.
With the openings at the Cowboy Back leading to open competition among the nearly 10 players on the roster at the position, Abbott took to get stronger this offseason with the help of his brother Blake – who was a linebacker at Tulsa – who was recently hired as part of Rob Glass’ strength and conditioning staff.
“This summer, I’ve had one of my biggest gains as far as body fat percentage, building explosive muscle and it’s been a lot in part due to him,” Abbott said. “He’s helped me with my diet more than anything. I’ve been eating a lot more healthy, I feel like I have a lot more stamina. If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t be where I am now.”
Similar to former walk-on turned the original Cowboy Back Jeremy Seaton, Abbott played quarterback in high school at the Class 5A program in western Kansas. He passed for 3,000 yards, rushed for 1,200 yards and combined for 49 touchdowns as a senior in Liberal.
The showed his athleticism and versatility of being a Cowboy Back by also playing basketball, completed in track and field and doing power lifting while in high school.
All of it garnered interest from the Cowboy coaching staff, who showed interest in the youngest Abbott and suggest to he join OSU as a preferred walk-on.
“Coach Joe Bob Clements (the defensive line coach) recruited me a little bit and got my attention on OSU,” Abbott said. “I came down to a camp and from then I was on their radar. Coach Gundy even called me a few times and I just decided this would be the place.”
Abbott was born in Tulsa while his father Cliff was a defensive ends coach for his alma mater, and said he still has a lot of relatives that live throughout central Oklahoma.
Cliff was on staff for the Golden Hurricane for nearly 10 years, and most recently was the head coach at Liberal High School – of which he graduate from in 1980. He coached Britton, as well as several of his other sons, at Liberal.
“Being competitive has always been in my family, doesn’t matter what it was – could be blowing bubbles with bubble gum, it didn’t matter,” Britton said. “So having my brothers and my dad around led me to being competitive, it’s always been in our family, it’s always been a lot of knowledge to lean on from guys who had already done it.”
But it’s the time before his father was a coach that draws Britton to the NFL.
Cliff had a brief stint with the New York Giants, and Britton still has friends he and his family created from those NFL connections.
The pro level may still be a long shot at this point.
But he’s at least making the most of his chance of finally making it on the college field.
Used heavily throughout the first three games of the season, his main role has been in the blocking game. Whether it be pass blocking or being the lead blocker from tailbacks Justice Hill and J.D. King, Abbott was more of a fullback than a tight end out of the hybrid position.
But he got his first opportunity in the passing game to do more than just block for his quarterbacks.
In the closing minutes of Oklahoma State’s blowout victory at Pittsburgh, Abbott’s number was called on a third-and-4, and with backup quarterback Taylor Cornelius in the backfield, he found Abbott for a 26-yard gain that allowed the Cowboys to milk out the final five minutes of the game.
“I felt really good about that play, it looked good in practice all week,” Abbott said. “We got the look that we wanted from the defense and it opened up just like our coaches scripted. There was no thinking, ‘Don’t drop it.’ I just wanted to do my job, just like every play.”
I came across this article in the McAlester News...
The season opener carried significant weight for Oklahoma State redshirt junior Britton Abbott.
Not only was he making his first start for the Cowboys after years of learning behind Cowboy Backs like Jeremy Seaton, Blake Jarwin and Zac Veatch. He was making his first start of his college career against the same program his father and older brothers once played for.
Abbott, the youngest of four boys, stepped onto the field at Boone Pickens Stadium wearing OSU orange and black after growing up watching all of his family wear the blue and gold of the Tulsa Golden Hurricane.
“Deep down, I think it was a little more sweet,” Abbott said. “… I’ve got so many connections with coaches and players on that team, there was a lot of familiar faces when we played them.”
So how was it to become that the final member of the Abbott family brought an end to the family tradition, and instead landed in Oklahoma State as a walk-on out of Liberal, Kansas?
“I guess I wanted to do my own deal a little bit,” Abbott said. “My whole family had gone to there, but I wanted to play at Oklahoma State instead of Tulsa and make my own path.”
It wasn’t anything against his family.
As he plays his final two years of college football, the management and marketing major who was named to the 2016 All-Big 12 Academic First Team, Abbott cherishes every bit of his family. He’s played for his father and one brother while at high school, and now has a brother that is overseeing his success in Stillwater.
“I’ve had a good support system around me with my family, and have always believed in me,” Abbott said. “My dad was always saying, ‘Hey, you’re good enough to play, just go make it happen.’ They always believed in me the whole time.”
And it was one family member in particular that has given him the greatest support over the past six months.
With the openings at the Cowboy Back leading to open competition among the nearly 10 players on the roster at the position, Abbott took to get stronger this offseason with the help of his brother Blake – who was a linebacker at Tulsa – who was recently hired as part of Rob Glass’ strength and conditioning staff.
“This summer, I’ve had one of my biggest gains as far as body fat percentage, building explosive muscle and it’s been a lot in part due to him,” Abbott said. “He’s helped me with my diet more than anything. I’ve been eating a lot more healthy, I feel like I have a lot more stamina. If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t be where I am now.”
Similar to former walk-on turned the original Cowboy Back Jeremy Seaton, Abbott played quarterback in high school at the Class 5A program in western Kansas. He passed for 3,000 yards, rushed for 1,200 yards and combined for 49 touchdowns as a senior in Liberal.
The showed his athleticism and versatility of being a Cowboy Back by also playing basketball, completed in track and field and doing power lifting while in high school.
All of it garnered interest from the Cowboy coaching staff, who showed interest in the youngest Abbott and suggest to he join OSU as a preferred walk-on.
“Coach Joe Bob Clements (the defensive line coach) recruited me a little bit and got my attention on OSU,” Abbott said. “I came down to a camp and from then I was on their radar. Coach Gundy even called me a few times and I just decided this would be the place.”
Abbott was born in Tulsa while his father Cliff was a defensive ends coach for his alma mater, and said he still has a lot of relatives that live throughout central Oklahoma.
Cliff was on staff for the Golden Hurricane for nearly 10 years, and most recently was the head coach at Liberal High School – of which he graduate from in 1980. He coached Britton, as well as several of his other sons, at Liberal.
“Being competitive has always been in my family, doesn’t matter what it was – could be blowing bubbles with bubble gum, it didn’t matter,” Britton said. “So having my brothers and my dad around led me to being competitive, it’s always been in our family, it’s always been a lot of knowledge to lean on from guys who had already done it.”
But it’s the time before his father was a coach that draws Britton to the NFL.
Cliff had a brief stint with the New York Giants, and Britton still has friends he and his family created from those NFL connections.
The pro level may still be a long shot at this point.
But he’s at least making the most of his chance of finally making it on the college field.
Used heavily throughout the first three games of the season, his main role has been in the blocking game. Whether it be pass blocking or being the lead blocker from tailbacks Justice Hill and J.D. King, Abbott was more of a fullback than a tight end out of the hybrid position.
But he got his first opportunity in the passing game to do more than just block for his quarterbacks.
In the closing minutes of Oklahoma State’s blowout victory at Pittsburgh, Abbott’s number was called on a third-and-4, and with backup quarterback Taylor Cornelius in the backfield, he found Abbott for a 26-yard gain that allowed the Cowboys to milk out the final five minutes of the game.
“I felt really good about that play, it looked good in practice all week,” Abbott said. “We got the look that we wanted from the defense and it opened up just like our coaches scripted. There was no thinking, ‘Don’t drop it.’ I just wanted to do my job, just like every play.”
